‘Skyscraper.’
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson might have more fans pro-rata in Australia than in the US, judging by the weekend opening figures for Skyscraper.
Even so, the $125 million-budgeted action adventure from Legendary Entertainment and Universal Pictures will rank among the lesser lights of Johnson’s career.
Reviews branding Skyscraper as ludicrously entertaining may not have deterred the Rock’s hard-core fans but family audiences clearly prefer Ant-Man and the Wasp, Incredibles 2 and Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation.
The top 20 titles rang up $19.5 million, down 7 per cent on the prior weekend, according to Numero. Luke Sparke’s Occupation opened okay on limited sessions at 17 cinemas, prompting complaints on social media from people who can’t see the alien invasion thriller.
Meanwhile Clayton Jacobson’s blackly comic crime drama Brother’s Nest is waning, taking $17,000 in its fourth weekend, now on 37 screens, which brings the total for the Label release to $223,000.
Disney/Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp reigned in its second weekend, grabbing $3.78 million, dipping by 35 per cent, which is a lot better than the 62 per cent decline in the US. The superhero adventure directed by Peyton Reed has pocketed $132.8 million after 10 days in the US and $150.9 million in the rest of the world, including $13.1 million in Oz, the third biggest market behind Korea and Mexico.
Brad Bird’s Incredibles 2 climbed to $39.8 million after banking $3.5 million in its fifth frame, easing by 12 per cent thanks to school holidays. The Disney/Pixar superhero comedy has amassed a phenomenal $535.8 million in the US and $321.1 million internationally.
Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania 3 drew $3.2 million in its third weekend, up by 5 per cent, propelling the total to $13.8 million, which eclipses the lifetime earnings of Hotel Transylvania 2 and Cars 3.
Writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber’s Skyscraper stars Johnson as a former FBI hostage rescue team leader and security consultant who is assigned to China where he finds the world’s tallest building is ablaze and he’s been framed for it. So his task is to find those responsible, clear his name and rescue his family trapped inside the building.
The Australian opening of $3.1 million is fractionally ahead of the Rock’s Rampage, which took $3.03 million in its first weekend and ended up making $8.6 million, but below San Andreas, which launched with $3.2 million and wound up with $9 million.
Pro-rata, the Aussie debut was better than the $US24.9 million three-day tally in the US, where it was crushed by Hotel Transylvania 3’s $US44.1 million opening.
The worldwide haul of Universal/Amblin Entertainment’s Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom is a towering $1.13 billion, including $363.3 million in the US and $771.4 million internationally. Here, the action adventure directed by JA Bayona bagged $2.6 million in its fourth weekend, ascending to $31.1 million.
The Warner Bros/Village Roadshow Pictures comedy Ocean’s 8 reached $17.2 million after making $528,000 in its fifth outing. Gary Ross’ heist caper has minted $251.4 million worldwide.
After a lowly opening Show Dogs, a buddy cop family comedy directed by Raja Gosnell, actually rose by 5 per cent in its second weekend, taking $411,000, which brings the total for the Roadshow release to $1.26 million.
Balthasar Kormákur’s survival saga Adrift pocketed $332,000 in its third weekend and a fair $2.4 million to date for Roadshow.
Stefano Sollima’s Sicario: Day of the Soldado is a modest performer for Roadshow, collecting $2.8 million after generating $292,000 in its third frame.
Mind Blowing Films has scored one of its biggest successes with Hindi director-writer Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanju, a biopic on Indian superstar Sanjay Dutt, fetching $2.3 million after its third weekend.